


what does it say?

by loserforlife



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Oblivious Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Teenage Losers Club (IT), Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23093479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loserforlife/pseuds/loserforlife
Summary: richie had always wondered when he'd meet his soulmate. ever since he was a kid, watching his mother and father, so carelessly in love, even after being married for so long. he daydreamed constantly about his soulmate, wondering what they'd look like, what their first words to him would be.eddie, on the other hand, never really cared too much about his soulmate. perhaps it was because his father died when he was young, so he never had two happy parents to look up to (though, the pictures from before he died left eddie speechless. his mother had a real, genuine, full smile on her face that eddie didn't think he'd ever seen.) so, yeah, eddie simply didn't care. well, not until he did.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 170





	what does it say?

**Author's Note:**

> note: underage use of alcohol and marijuana. hope you guys enjoy, this is my first work so go easy on me!! <3

richie had always wondered when he'd meet his soulmate. ever since he was a kid, watching his mother and father, so carelessly in love, even after being married for so long. he daydreamed constantly about his soulmate, wondering what they'd look like, what their first words to him would be.

eddie, on the other hand, never really cared too much about his soulmate. perhaps it was because his father died when he was young, so he never had two happy parents to look up to (though, the pictures from before he died left eddie speechless. his mother had a real, genuine, full smile on her face that eddie didn't think he'd ever seen.) so, yeah, eddie simply didn't care. well, not until he did. 

\--

richie was beginning to grow antsy as his eighteenth birthday drew closer, eager to finally get an idea of who he would be spending the rest of his life with. it was getting worse and worse each day, until march 6th came around and he thought he might burst. 

the losers had gathered at ben's house, his mother always happy for him to have friends over. they had all settled down in the hanscom's basement when beverly pulled a ziplock bag from her backpack, a smirk on her face. "brownies, anyone?"

"why miss marsh, don't mind if i do," richie responded in a southern accent, eagerly taking the half of the brownie she handed him. she then handed the rest to their other friends, who accepted them gratefully. 

after eating their respective pieces, they repositioned themselves on the couch, ben popping in the new jurassic park movie he'd managed to get his hands on. 

\--

it was an hour later, richie's commentary had slowed down, eddie had laid across beverly, ben, mike, and richie, and bill was sprawled out across the floor. 

"guys?" richie finally spoke up, removing his fingers from where they were carded through eddie's hair. "can we play a game or something? i can't focus on this fucking movie. don't get me wrong, dinosaurs n shit, but," he never finished the sentence. the truth was, he was getting distracted by the thoughts of his soulmate, knowing his woulds would show up in just a few hours. 

"let's play would you rather," eddie hummed, his eyes slightly glazed over and pink around the edges. it was cute, richie thought, cute cute cute! the others all made noises of agreement, before jumping into the game. 

\--

it was so close, so close. everybody was pretty sobered up now, for the most part. eddie was now curled up in richie's lap, looking a bit tired after coming down from his high. everybody else was mostly just chill, trying to find ways to distract richie from how slow time seemed to be dragging on. 

"five minutes, rich. how are you feeling?" ben asked, peaking over from behind beverly's shoulder. his friends knew how big this was for him, how much of a hopeless romantic richie was. 

"oh y'know, feel like my ass is gonna fall out at any minute," richie sighed, shifting a bit so he could slide his arm around eddie's waist, absentmindedly rubbing his hip. 

"that's physically impossible," stan replied flatly, before he smiled over at richie, everyone bursting into a fit of giggles. okay, maybe they weren't completely sobered up yet. 

richie looked down and slowly rolled up his sleeve, staring down at his blank skin. it looked so empty, like a blank canvas, just waiting for something beautiful to be painted on it. 

his friends all watched him, all a bit curious to see what their friend would get. bill and beverly already had their words, and the losers had gathered just like they had tonight to see what they would say.

richie was about to say something, complain about how fucking slow time was going, when the dark, dainty letters appeared over his skin. he froze, staring down at the words before him. holy. shit.

\--

"w-w-what's it say?" bill asked, staring at richie, who looked like he was about to have a seizure. 

"it- um, it says," richie cleared his throat. "it says, uh, 'don't call me that,'" he breathed, his face heating up. did he know? did he remember? did the other losers know? richie quickly glanced over at his friends. stan had a knowing look, but everyone else looked pretty confused. 

"christ, rich, now i wanna know what you're gonna call them," eddie chuckled, his other friends following suit. of course he doesn't remember. 

\--

after he got his words, richie stopped talking about his soulmate so much. of course, that didn't mean he stopped thinking about it. no, in fact, he thought about it even more now. for 8 months, richie pretty much kept his mouth shut about his soulmate.

it was november 14th when they all gathered into beverly's dorm. they'd all packed their bags and left derry after graduating, enrolling at the university of maine. it wasn't surprising that they all ended up at the same school, mostly because every kid who wanted to leave derry wound up there. but it was nice, knowing that if they needed their friends, they were right around the corner. 

"i told you guys you didn't have to do this. you know it's not that big of a deal for me," eddie had been protesting all night, claiming that he didn't care. but as the clock started to tick closer and closer, eddie started getting a bit anxious. 

"come on, eds. it is a big deal, even if you don't think it is," richie insited, taking a swig of his beer.

"don't call me that," he grumbled. how he still didn't know he was richie's soulmate was a mystery to him.

"we did it for everyone else, eddie, come on," ben agreed, offering the smaller boy a supportive smile. 

if he was being honest with himself, eddie did care. he'd stayed up the past few nights thinking, wondering, hoping. if he was being brutally honest with himself, he only wanted to know who his soulmate was if it was richie. but he knew that wasn't how this worked, he knew he'd probably have to end up with some overbearing woman that probably more or less resembles his mother. right?

they passed the time by playing a rather intense game of uno, where richie inevitably won, like he always did. and as usual, eddie claimed richie cheated, claiming that he would have won otherwise. 

"sorry to break up this thoughtful dialogue, but it's almost midnight," beverly interrupted, smirking at the boys in front of her. richie immediately shut his mouth, feeling his palms start to sweat. he would know. in just a few minutes eddie would realize. 

"nervous?" richie asked as he slung his arm around eddie's shoulder. eddie was just staring down at his sweater clad forearm, internally freaking out over what it might say. he carefully gripped the hem, looking over his friends nervously. 

he then looked up at richie, letting out a deep sigh. "i can't look, can you just tell me what it says?" he asked quietly, unsure why he was feeling so nervous right now. richie simply nodded, reaching over to gently push eddie's sleeve up. it was only a minute before when eddie's words showed up, and richie's breath hitched. 

everyone stared at him, eddie included, waiting for richie to tell them what it said. but he couldn't, he couldn't really even breathe right now. sure, he thought eddie might be his soulmate, but this confirmation was making him dizzy. 

\--

august 31, 1981

"alright, class. if you look around the room, you will see all the desks have a name card on them. find your name, and that is your assigned seat for the year," the teacher announced to the group of young children, allowing them to wander the room until they found their spots. 

it was richie's first day of first grade, and all he knew was that he wanted to make some friends. he looked around the room, eyes lighting up when he found a card with his name on a desk. he sat down, noticing that he was the first to find his seat at the table. he read the other cards next to him, one for casey jones, one for brandon lakowski, and one for edward kaspbrak. he froze when a boy, presumably edward kaspbrak, took a seat next to him. he was small, they all were, but there was something about him that was pretty and clean and dainty. richie liked it. 

"hi there, eds," he greeted, a big goofy smile on his face, flashing his missing front tooth. he didn't know anything about this boy, but he knew he wanted to be his friend. 

"don't call me that." the boy quickly snapped back, his eyes wide. but once he realized that richie was looking at him with a bright smile, he softened. "you can call me eddie."

\--

"richie for god's sake, what does it say?" eddie asked, worry very clear in his tone. could it really be that bad? god, what could his soulmate have said that has richie trashmouth tozier freaking out?

"it says," richie took in a deep breath, before looking eddie directly in the eye. "it says 'hi there, eds'." eddie furrowed his brows and looked down at his wrist, before he paused. wait. 

"wait," he mumbled, brows furrowing before he looked back up at richie. "is-"

"i-i think so, eds," richie said softly, giving his friend a pleading look. please say you love me. please say you want me. please accept me as your soulmate, eddie, for the love of god please say something. 

the rest of the losers stayed silent, almost like they were an audience watching a movie. 

"rich," eddie mumbled, before he quickly stood up, needing to do something. suddenly, there was so much adrenaline running through him, he was scared he might have a heart attack if he didn't move around. 

"guys, can we um," richie mumbled, giving the rest of their friends a look. the others immediately nodded, standing up and shuffling out of the room to give them some privacy. "eddie," richie spoke again, once the door was closed and it was just them. 

"did you know? god, how didn't i know? richie, holy shit," eddie sighed, running his hands through his hair as he paced around beverly's room. 

"eddie," richie sighed, standing up and walking over to the boy. he placed his hands on eddie's shoulders to halt him, looking down into his eyes. those big, beautiful brown eyes. "just breathe, eds. breathe," he cooed. 

eddie did as he was told, taking deep breaths. it made sense. it all did. even now, how easily richie could calm him down, how richie knew what to do to make him feel better. "i'm sorry, i just-"

"are you disappointed?" 

eddie's furrowed his brows, immediately shaking his head. "no," he whispered, moving in just a bit closer. "i'm not disappointed, rich. i think... i think i'm actually relieved. i didn't think i'd be lucky enough to... to have my best friend as my soulmate," he shrugged, moving to wrap his arms around richie's waist. "i'm happy, rich."

richie felt like he was going to pass out. or maybe he had as this was all just a dream. richie felt the urge to make a joke, or something to take away from the seriousness of this moment. instead, he leaned in and pressed his lips against eddie's. 

eddie let out a surprised gasp, before he melted into the kiss, moving his arms so they wrapped around richie's neck. he smiled against his lips when he felt hands resting on his hips, slowly pulling away from the kiss. this felt right. he knew this was right, no matter what his mother or bullies or anyone else said, him and richie were right. 

"i'm happy too. really fucking happy, eds."

"don't call me that."


End file.
